He opened his eyes and lifted his head again, peering down at Callie beside him. Her dark hair sprawled across the pillow in tendrils, the curves of her bare body still pressed back against him. Beneath the covers, he reached an arm across her waist, pulling her still tighter to him, one of his hands just caressing the underside of her breasts.
She inhaled sharply again, her eyes flickering open.
“What a way to wake up,” she whispered, a hint of mischief in her tone.
He chuckled deeply and pressed his lips to the curve of her neck and down her bare shoulder. He was tempted to rip the covers from her body, to see her in all her glory and make love to her again, but he feared how sore she would be.
After they had made love, they had both bathed together in the garderobe room next door, then retreated to this bed, neither one of them wanting to let the other go.
“Callie,” he whispered, lifting his head, a sudden thought occurring to him. He had remembered to pull out, not wanting to risk getting her with child before they were married, but there was always a chance. He had heard it wasn’t foolproof. “Would you consider marrying me sooner?” he asked, hope filling him up. “That way, we wouldn’t have to sneak around. We could share a chamber openly.”
She smiled, rolling over to turn to face him, and then abruptly, that smile vanished. He reached towards her, kissing away the frown that had appeared on her brow.
“We don’t have to rush anything,” he said hurriedly, not wanting to pressure her into anything.
“Let us have the ball first,” she murmured, her voice strangely quiet. “Then we could talk about a date.”
Hearing her say such a thing made the pleasure writhe inside him again. Soon, they wouldn’t have to hide at all. He could make love to her openly in their shared chamber, not even contemplating sneaking away in case the staff saw them.
He moved his lips to hers and kissed her again, wanting to comfort her, to show her there was no need to be nervous.
When her leg brushed his, his length hardened at once. He could feel every curve of her body pressed to his. The sheer teasing sensation of her breasts against his chest sent him mad. She pulled back from their kiss with a giggle, clearly feeling his hardness against her hip.
“You want me again?” she whispered.
“I’ll always want you,” he murmured in her ear. He kissed her down her neck and rolled her over so she was flat on her back. He dove beneath the covers, flipping the blankets over his head to hide himself from her, then slid down her body. She giggled and writhed on the bed as he laid kisses on her breasts. He took one in his mouth, kissing and playing with her, listening as she tried to stifle her moans by biting down on one of the cushions. “You’ll be sore,” he whispered as he set kisses down the centre of her stomach and towards her hip. “We should wait.”
“But … oh.” She broke off as his fingers teased her damp curls. She was wet already for him; he could feel it. He moved her thighs wider apart, already picturing what it would feel like to bury his hardness inside her. “I’m not too sore,” she said.
He heard the pleading in her tone.
He knelt up, throwing the blankets off his head and planting his hands on the mattress on either side of her.
“Callie …” He smiled at her. “Are you asking me to make love to you again?” he teased her, just nudging her entrance with his length.
She gasped, the delight reflecting in her eyes as her legs drew up higher around his hips. They were both tense, on the precipice of sharing one another’s bodies again.
“I am.” She smiled up at him, drawing her hands up around his chest and then wrapping her arms around his neck. “Make love to me, Marcus,” she whispered in his ear.
He practically growled at her pleading with him. The sound of her begging was the most alluring thing he’d ever heard. He rocked his hips forward, entering her, slowly, this time, nervous about hurting her. Though she gasped in pleasure, she showed no sign of pain.
The sheer thrill that was encompassing his length made him rock faster, pumping into her. He drove his hands down onto the bed, feeling her fingers as they raked over his body. When she scratched his back, moaning his name, he didn’t mind if she grazed him. He just wanted this feeling to continue – this feeling of being completely intimate and alone with her.
Then her back arched off the bed, her breasts pressing up towards him. She drove her hands into the bedhead, holding her body as he drove into her faster and faster. All his senses felt heightened. Any minute, he would spill himself again, completely intoxicated by the sight of her and what they were doing.
“Marcus.” She moaned his name in such a breathy way that he knew it was happening even before her body tightened around his length. He groaned aloud at the feeling of her as she realized, watching her cheeks grow pink as her lips fell open. He drove into her a few more times, holding himself back from his own release as much as possible just to make sure he rode out her waves of pleasure. When her hands found their way to his chest, he couldn’t hold back any longer.
He pulled out, reaching down to his length where he pumped it just one last time. He spilled himself onto the bedsheets beneath her, gasping and moaning her name.
She was breathing heavily, her fingers running all over him as he finished. He felt more like an animal than a human, yet in the most thrilling way. He laid himself down on the bed beside her as she stretched to join him, laying her head on his chest. He looped his arm around her waist, and for a minute, neither of them said anything. They both just panted, catching their breaths as much as they could.
“I wish this morning wouldn’t end,” she said eventually with a giggle. He kissed the top of her head through her hair.
“Nothing’s over,” he reminded her. “Plenty of other nights I can sneak in here.”
She smiled into his chest. He could feel the corners of her mouth turning upward.
“When will the ball be?” she asked, her voice turning quieter.
